The business operation of the DRAM and NAND Flash sector of the world's top three memory manufacturers - Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron - has improved since the beginning of the second half of 2023 and demand will enjoy a bigger recovery in the fourth quarter, boosting the three makers' revenues and profits.

AP shipments for Chinese smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2023 are expected to be weak, as handset brands already stocked up in advance in the third quarter.

The three primary high performance computing (HPC) chip suppliers, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, all experienced lackluster sales in the first half of 2023 amid weak demand for HPC applications, according to a survey of DIGITIMES Research.

Few Taiwan-based IC design firms have made efforts toward high performance AI chips, autonomous driving chips, high performance computing (HPC) chips, and other emerging technologies whereas China has multiple companies endeavoring in these fields.

DIGITIMES Research projects that the global foundry revenue will grow at a CAGR of 11.3% from 2023 through 2028, driven by demand from 5G and EV applications.

Taiwan's wafer foundry industry is set to generate a total of only US$77.9 billion in revenue in 2023, falling 13% from a year ago, but will see the amount to rise in 2024.

According to DIGITIMES Research's surveys and analyses, second-quarter 2023 smartphone application processor (AP) shipments to China-based brand vendors amounted to 132 million units, growing 10% from the prior quarter but plunging 33.4% from the prior year.

The Japanese government on May 23 announced to impose export restrictions on 23 items of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, effective July 23. Although the list includes various equipment, Japan is more likely to control the export of photolithography or thin film deposition equipment for advanced processes.

First-quarter 2023 smartphone application processor (AP) shipments to China-based smartphone brand vendors amounted to 120 million units, plunging 12.1% from the prior quarter and 32.6% from the prior year due to ongoing smartphone demand shrinkage on top of vendors' inventory adjustment and slow season.

Global smartphone application processor (AP) shipments are expected to come to 1.114 billion units in 2023, down 11.8% on year, mainly due to declining smartphone shipments and slow AP inventory depletion.

The four leading foundries in Taiwan - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), United Microelectronics (UMC), Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) - together generated a total of US$89.4 billion in revenues in 2022, soaring 31% from a year ago. However, they still experienced the first on-quarter revenue decline since the COVID-19 pandemic in fourth-quarter 2022.

China-based semiconductor manufacturers, in the wake of geopolitical risks, are expected to keep up with their capacity expansion strategies going into 2023 with a good number of projects already in construction.